Zimpapers Sports Hub, Mauritius 1-4 Zimbabwe
(Zimbabwe win 6-1 on aggregate)
THE Young Warriors produced a ruthless first-half display to sweep past Mauritius and book their place in the next round of Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations qualifying.
At half-time, the scoreline read 4-1 in favour of the Young Warriors, and by full-time Zimbabwe’s Under-23 side had completed a 6-1 aggregate victory to progress.
After winning 2-0 in the reverse fixture at the National Sports Stadium, this was expected to be a close contest.
But the Young Warriors made a mockery of the bookmakers’ predictions, sending a strong message ahead of a showdown with Mali.
At the Côte d’Or National Sports Complex, Elisha Pfupa announced himself as Zimbabwe’s next big thing.
His first-half hat-trick in the 14th, 19th and 40th minutes killed the match as a contest. David Chigwada scored the fourth goal just before the break while Mauritius found a moment of hope through Jean Joucoeur in the 26th minute, but that did little to slow down Marc Sanchez’s side.
In the second half, Mauritius resorted to a physical approach as they tried to frustrate Zimbabwe.
It worked for them as the home side limited the damage to just the four goals scored in the first half.
Junior Chigumbu, introduced in the second half, was a real menace for the home side as Zimbabwe tried to add to Mauritius’ woes.
Pfupa’s involvement ended in the 81st minute after what looked like an elbow to his face.
He was replaced by El Shaddai Sadomba. Going into the game, the Young Warriors had promised nothing short of victory as they looked beyond this second leg, saying their target was West African powerhouse Mali.
They produced an emphatic result, but coach Sanchez will probably look back and realise there will be a lot of areas to polish up to stand a chance in the next stage. In the 85th minute, Mauritius came close to pulling one back but the goalkeeper did well to deny them.
At the death, however, the Young Warriors showed great maturity, managing the game with a passing game that could leave their seniors green with envy.
There were ugly scenes at the end of the match as frustrated Mauritius players tried to attack the Zimbabwean players, with the Young Warriors’ technical team ordering the players to rush to the tunnel before saluting the fans.
Sanchez was excited and rightly so at the sound of the final whistle.
“I am happy with the performance from my boys,” he said.
“We played well and the players showed a lot of depth and intelligence inside the field of play.
“We knew the Mauritians would come at us and try to overturn the 0-2 deficit they had from Harare.
“But well done to my boys. We looked for an early goal and got it. We unsettled them in the process and here we are.”
